Posts Tagged ‘obedience’

A New Attitude

Posted in Abolish Anxiety, Bible Study, Christian Living, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on April 6, 2017| 1 Comment »

philippians2_5-8

Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV) “Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus: Who being the very nature of God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

One time in my Bible study at church we came across this scripture and it
really made me ponder. At first, I thought, “Wow! The Bible even tells us
what our attitude should be. My attitude should be the same as that of
Jesus. What was his attitude?” I read on and found his outlook is that of one who
shows self-sacrificing love to others.

Jesus had everything in Heaven, and he gave up all that to come here and
become like us. That took a lot of love on his part. Not only did he became like
us, but he was willing to suffer all that we do. He actually became our servant. He
even went to the cross for us and paid our sin debt. That is love!

If I’m to have the attitude of Christ, then I’ve got to become humble. I’ve
got to lay aside myself. I’ve got to think more highly of other people’s needs than
my own. I’ve got to be ready to give comfort, pray, help out, and serve others.
I’ve got to simply let God work daily in my life. When I get up in the
morning I can pray and tell him, “I’m up and ready. Show me what to do
today.” If I do that, (and I’ve tried it) he gives me something to do for him. It’s
not easy to have Christ’s attitude, but you know what? When you work on it, God
blesses you more than you can ever imagine.

Oh God, help me today to be your servant, and to have an attitude like
Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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When is Sin not Sin?

Posted in Bible Study, Christian, Faith, Scripture, tagged , , , on November 8, 2009| 2 Comments »

When is sin not sin?   I’d like to read your comments on this question.  What do you think?

Update: Nov. 13, 2009
I have only had one comment so far on this. I’m wondering where is everyone? Maybe I didn’t write it correctly. What I’m asking is: When do you think it is okay to sin? Is there any time or circumstance when it would be okay?

 

 

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Are You Growing?

Posted in Christian, devotional, inspirational, tagged , , , , , on August 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Factors That Contribute to Your Growth as a Christian
By Adrienne Carlson

If you are a Christian, I’m sure you feel blessed to be one. The oneness you enjoy with God is compounded when you grow as a Christian through the years. And the factors that contribute to your growth as a true Christian are:

1.  Faith: To be close to Jesus, you must have absolute faith in his teachings and the way of life that he has advocated through the Bible. You must believe that he is the one and only true God, the one who is responsible for all that we are and all that we are blessed with.

2.  Obedience: Once we accept that Jesus is our Christ and savior, we must obey his word without question. Only then can we prove that we are growing spiritually as Christians. The Bible teaches us certain values, all of which are reinforced when we go to church regularly and listen to the word of God.

3.  Acceptance: Being a true Christian means accepting who we are and all that has been given to us in life. While we can try to do all we can to uplift our status, we grow as Christians when we accept our lot without complaining or blaming other people for our troubles and miseries.

4.  Forgiveness: This is probably one of the hardest acts to perform, but as a Christian who wants to grow, you must be able to forgive even those who have wronged you grievously, because only when you are able to forgive are you able to let go of the past and grow as a Christian. Conduct: The way you behave in your interactions with other people and in various situations defines how you grow as a Christian. A good Christian abides by the values that the Bible has taught us in every little part of their lives.

5.  Evangelism: When you grow as a Christian, you want to spread the word to the whole world. You must teach the word of Christ to people who are not aware of his goodness and mercy. And to do this, you must know how to approach people and talk to them without hurting their sentiments. Evangelism does not imply force; rather, you grow as a Christian when you are able to spread the word of God and tell people of his greatness through your actions.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online Bible Colleges.    Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions.

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The Obedient Christian

Posted in Bible Study, Christian, devotional, Faith, inspirational, Scripture, Worship, tagged , , , , , on January 16, 2009| 1 Comment »

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Do you realize that God has plenty to say about how we live our Christian lives?  He wants us to obey Him in every area.  We will look at the Bible and see some of the scriptures that shows us that.

2Co 13:5 NASB  Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you–unless indeed you fail the test?

God tells us to examine ourselves to make sure we are truly Christians. If we have Jesus Christ in us, then we are a new creation.  We should be able to look back on our lives and see a transformation since we were saved. 

The way our lives become transformed is by the study of the Word.  We can then apply it to our lives as we live in obedience to it.  That changes us.

God talked about obedience back in the Old Testament.

Deu 7:9 NASB  “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

God is faithful and keeps his promises, and lovingkindness.  But, note, it is to those who love Him and keep His commandments. 

Neh 1:5 NASB  I said, “I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

Here the Psalmist says that he delights in God’s commandments and actually loves them.  Can you say the same?  Psalm 119 is an awesome Psalm.  It would be good to go ahead and read the whole thing.  There is so much in it about God’s Word and how it is sweet as honey.

Psa 119:47 NASB  I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love.

Here Christ tell’s us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments.  That is the acid test of our love of God.  Do you love Him?  Do you obey Him?

Joh 14:15 NASB  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Look at this next verse.  It is wonderful!  If we keep God’s commandments it shows that we love Him.  It says, if we love Christ we will be loved by His Father.  Not only that, but Jesus will love us and actually disclose Himself to us.  Yes, He does that as we read and study the Word.  He allows our minds to be opened to take in and understand what He wants us to know.

What a privilege it is to be loved by Jesus and God.  What a privilege to have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe!  (If we obey Him.)

Joh 14:21 NASB  “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

Again, “if” we keep His commandments, we will abide in His love.  Jesus Himself set the example as He obeyed His Father’s commandments, even to death on the cross.  Could we do that? 

Joh 15:10 NASB  “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

When we love God and obey Him, we also know that we love other believers in Christ.  God’s love is this:  We keep His commandments, and they are not burdensome.  In other words, we are pleased to keep them.  The older I become as a Christian the more I see the wisdom in God’s commandments.  They are given to us for our own good.  The only thing that could keep us from obeying them is our own pride.

1Jn 5:2-3 NASB  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.  3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

And to say it again.  We show our love of God when we obey Him and follow His commands. 

2Jn 1:6 NASB  And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

I pray this little study in obedience has helped you realize that you are not your own.  He is our Lord and has every right to command us in our walk.  He owns us; He died for us; He paid the penalty of our sins.  We are His and as such we must bow the knee to his Lordship over our lives.  If He tells us something is wrong that we are doing we’d better pay attention. 

Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

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